Project 65(I) - Privacy and statutory powers of intrusion

The Commission’s reference was parallel to a reference given by the Commonwealth Attorney General to the Australian Law Reform Commission. The purpose of the parallel reference was to enable the Commission to evaluate the recommendations of the ALRC, to make appropriate recommendations at the state level, and to explore the possibility of developing legislation suitable for adoption on a uniform basis throughout Australia.

Terms of Reference

In 1976 the Commission was asked to advise upon:

the extent to which undue intrusions into or interferences with privacy arise or are capable of arising under the laws of Western Australia, and the extent to which procedures adopted to give effect to those laws give rise or permit such intrusions or interferences ... ;

(a) what legislative or other measures are required to provide proper protection and redress in the cases referred to;(b) what changes are required in the law in force in the state to provide protection against, or redress for, undue intrusions into or interferences with privacy arising, inter alia, from the obtaining, recording, storage or communication of information in relation to individuals, or from entry onto private property ... ;

any other related matter; but excluding inquiries on matters falling within the Terms of Reference of the Commonwealth Royal Commission on Intelligence and Security or matters relating to national security or defence.

Outcomes

The reference was deferred in 1986, with the Commission and the Attorney General agreeing to identify specific areas affecting privacy for individual examination. The reports on Confidentiality of Medical Records and Medical Research (Project No. 65(II)) and Professional Privilege for Confidential Communications (Project No. 90), certain aspects of the report on Police Act Offences (Project No. 85), and the earlier working paper on Privacy and Statutory Powers of Intrusion all dealt with aspects of the terms of reference of the privacy project. The reference was formally withdrawn in 1993.